I have noticed my backup files do not generate all the time.
Just today I realized why.
If I edit a model (without saving) and then save the drawing(Ctrl+S) SW will prompt me to Save All the files in the Save Modified Documents window.
If I click "Save All" SW doesn't make any backup files!
If I then Ctrl+S the files individually, SW will generate the backup files... but not when it prompts me to save?
Has anyone noticed and could someone try this?
Am I doing something wrong or is this a terrible glitch?
I tested in SW2016 SP3. It does save the backups from a Save All in the drawing after editing the model and not saving (watch the time stamp change on the backup files when you hit Save All). But I believe it comes down to how the Backup feature works in SOLIDWORKS that may make it appear that no backups are made.
If you open a Part file then make modifications and Save, the backup copy will not include these latest changes. The backup copy saved is the version of the last save (the version when you first opened the file). This is so you have a backup copy in the previous version before the changes that you just saved. If you save a second time without making any changes, the backup copy will update to match the current version because it's the same as version of the last save (since you didn't make any changes from the last save).
So therefore if you edit a Part file (but don't save), then switch to the Drawing and Save All, it's making the backup copy of the Part of the version prior to any of the changes (as discussed above). But if you do a second save in the drawing, it no longer prompts to Save All so the Part file doesn't get saved again to match the current version. But it will update the backup of the drawing (for example if you had added annotations to the drawing before the first Save All) since this is the second time saving the drawing.